Wednesday, July 19, 2017

WORLD ARCHITECTURE / CRAIG ELLWOOD’S SAN DIEGO MASTERPIECE

Editor’s note: I
wrote this article for San Diego Magazine in
2005 as part of its Home Design Quarterly
coverage.For an update by current
owners and an excellent gallery of photography click here.

By Thomas Shess (first published in
San Diego Magazine, January 2005).

Despite
what one historian called an impossible dream, broadcast executive and
historian Keith York tackled and succeeded in restoring a one-of-a-kind 50’s
home.

York,
when he was interviewed for this article in the fall of 2004 was a KPBS
television programming manager said, “Ellwood was fond of saying his San Diego
home came in under budget but I don’t think he actually came down to supervise
its construction.”

Craig Ellwood

Craig
Ellwood had a bit of showman in him, recounts architectural historian Keith
York, the current owner. Ellwood’s career was filled with brilliant work mostly
in the Los Angeles area.The famed
designer’s Hollywood lifestyle was filled with many flamboyant distractions. So
he could be forgiven when he was pleasantly surprised after discovering one of
his homes was built in San Diego.

The
Bobertz House was built in 1954 by Charles Bobertz, a San Diego utilities
executive, who drove to Los Angeles for the plans.The San Diego home was part of a series
Ellwood called the wall houses.About
six were in the series and were influenced by Ellwood’s Case Study projects of
the early 1950s.

Tom Shess: Where does it rank
in your opinion of his residential work?

Keith York: The Bobertz
Residence was designed in 1953 by Craig Ellwood’s very first employee.
Completed in late-55 / early-56, it is the only built project the world-renowned
architecture firm built in San Diego.As
with many other architects’ careers, the early work’s importance is hotly
contested as to how “important” it is. With the relatively small numbers of
private residences built by Craig Ellwood Associates across 3 decades, all of
his houses are valued highly by owners, architects and historians. This house
is significant because it is very early in Craig’s career, part of a 6-project
series later titled “Wall Houses” by biographers, only a few of which made the
transition from blueprint to built project. Of the few Wall Houses that were
built one has already been demolished and another altered (the latter being one
of the widely published Arts & Architecture Case Study Houses). Craig’s
early houses were smaller in scale than his later designs, and were of a
simpler post ‘n’ beam wood construction. My wood home is a rarity in his
career, and a cousin to a Case Study House, and Ellwood’s Courtyard Apartments,
both of which won him international recognition make this home important.

I
have been in contact with both of Ellwoods biographers since discovering the
house — I ran it by them if it was worth purchasing (one of them told me it
from my photographs that it was beyond saving and that it would be a lifestyle
change to take on the project). In their research for their books (there are
now 4 texts on Ellwood), both historians told me that this project was not in
the official archive, they had little information on the project, and only knew
from the still-living draftsmen if the drawings were ever completed and the
residence built. In discovering the home I have contributed to the knowledge
base on Ellwood.

Q: Previous owners of
note?

A: The commissioning
client Charles/Chuck Bobertz would later help design/write the Rancho Santa Fe
covenant restrictions/guidelines on commercial building in the area. 2nd owner
is still alive, living in Del Cerro, not that interested in talking. 3rd owner
was the chair of SDSU’s physics department.

Q: Furnishings?

A: While much of the
original design was intact when I bought the home, many of the little
furnishings (door knobs, lighting) were in the garage and needed to be sorted.
I have filled the home with the same style of furniture, lighting and artwork
as the original owners intended. Every piece of furniture I own (aside from my
TV) was designed/available at retail in 1956 when the owners would’ve moved in
to the home. Every piece of art, pottery, and furniture in my home is vintage —
the only reproduction in my home is a rare George Nelson bed that I
commissioned a local artisan to recreate. All pottery, paintings and sculpture
in my home are by San Diego artists and all are of the era.

Q: What attracted you
to this home?

A: The unusual façade,
nicknamed a billboard and a ship by various neighbors over the years, drew me
to ask the owner what he knew of the home. The home is within walking distance
to 2 of my 3 jobs (SDSU, KPBS). After connecting with the owners I realized the
aesthetic and historical value of the home made it much more than a piece of
real estate, yet another thing to become overly commoditized in San Diego
County.

Q: What restorations?

A: The house has been
restored to 99% of its original state – I kept one 3rd-owner addition intact.
While the house has been restored down to original electricity outlets, door
knobs and hinges, I retained a few extra square-feet from a decades-old living
room expansion that retains the lines of the rest of the house. I took the
house down in square feet to remove additions that were not necessary, nor
in-line with the spirit of the house. Losing the square footage has created a
bit of a stir among friends and family that see real estate as an investment
accounted by price-per-square foot. The only thing remaining is landscape
restoration (I have the original 1955 drawings by a widely recognized
california landscape architect) and a new roof — both of which I am saving up $
for.

Q: The most
significant restoration was returning the home’s interior courtyard to its
open-roof plan.

A: On
a personal level--dweller to dwelling what do you like about the house.What are some of its fine points that make it
comfortable and satisfying to live within the walls.

Living
within the walls of the home is like being in a museum, and a refuge from the
world simultaneously. I designed the space to be a bit of a time warp away from
the rest of the world and it works. From the vintage furnishings, to the art,
to the blending of indoor-outdoor spaces and the house positioned away from the
street, it is a private place. It is very satisfying to know that on the
outside people are confused about the house, enthused about its restoration,
while on the inside it is a very empowering, liberating, healthy space to reside
in.

Q: Square footage?

A: When I purchased
the home it was about 2500 square feet.

I
brought it back to its original 1400 s.f. by removing an addition by a previous
owner.

Q: Do you entertain a
lot? What do your guests like about the house?

A: Beyond having SOHO
donor events at the home, I have welcomed architects and historians on tours of
San Diego, as well as my many friends and colleagues. I entertain at my home
more often than anyone I know — a good fresh-juice and vodka cocktail party is
very welcoming!To this day (now 4 years
of ownership) I give tours of the home to knew visitors, friends and family ---
full of queries about how, why, and cost of the project and what it’s like to
live here.The questions are of a wide
variety, but always from a respectful awe that someone like me could accomplish
this by simple means and a lot of passion.

Q: Construction details?

A: The house is of
redwood and douglas fir post ‘n’ beam construction. The west and east exteriors
are a fine-grain sand stucco. North façade and much of the interior walls and
courtyard is redwood tongue ‘n’ groove. The remaining interior walls are smooth
plaster. The entire south wall is floor to ceiling glass. The house sits on a
concrete slab with an Amstrong VCT tile that closely approximates the color and
texture of the original asphalt/asbestos tiles. Some flooring is cork as was
originally called for. All doors and cabinetry are of phillipine mahogany. HVAC
was added to the house a few decades ago and is currently maintained. Paint
colors were matched to original stains and plaster colors as the house was
painted over completely in the 1960s/70s covering up the original wood grain
(though the garage is original).

The
landscape plan is going to be the next BIG horizon for this house — my plan is
to restore the original landscape with much of the original
plantings/organization.Another article on the Bobertz House appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, September 3, 2006 by architectural critic Ann Jarmusch.